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Of interest...
Los Angeles Fashion District provides a unqiue, low-budgei shopping experience /7
HYU's tricky defense not enough tu overcome No. 4 [ISC in Saturday's 35-18 victory at the Coliseum / 20
NewsDigttl 1 Calendar 2
Opinions 4 Siaff 4
Buzz 1 Classifieds It
Crossword
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
vol. CXUV, no. 9 w^.dailytfQlan.coni
7 told them I wanted a pull-up bar next to a fish tank and those boots so 1 could do the 'Deuce Bigalow' thing.
ROB ROBOL undeclared sophomore
L.A. Times decorates student dorm rooms on a budget and without breaking the rules
«c ’''«*' •' r-
for a feature in the Home section. A
home stylist would head the project
with a budget of $800 and adhere to
strict university rules about nails and
double stick tape. | f ^ ; -
Ramos, a junior majoring in sociology and religion, and Robol, an undecided sophomore, signed up for the makeover during summer RA training-So many other people had signed up that they said they soon forgot about it Then one day, they received a call from the newspaper.
“They said, 'We have an $800 budget to makeover your room,"’ Ramos said. “And 1 thought, are you kidding?’”
-• frilly* vr*• .IpMpi' W-gy‘ '*3
By LIDMNA POflTALES
Staff Writer
• Vv - :*♦ r
When Rob Robol and Angelica Ramos started their jobs as resident advisers and moved into their dorm rooms at Fluor Tower, they summoned a top interior decorator to transform their boring boxes into suites worthy of design magazines.
The best part was that it cost them absolutely nothing.
A couple of weeks before the semester started, Los Angeles Times writer David A. Keeps approached USC with a proposal to makeover two dorm rooms
A. '' P‘ ‘ ' our goal was not to create good television, it was to make nice living situations for people."
When Keeps and DiGregorio con suited the BAs, they said their utmost concern was to create a welcoming area for their residents, as well as to create practical eating and studying spaces.
Robol said he was free from appre hension and full of ideas.
“1 was excited,” he said. “1 have no problem letting random men into my room. They asked me what 1 wanted and I told them I wanted a pull-up bar next to a fish tank and those boots so 1
I see Room, page 13 I
Once the initial excitement wore off, however, the hyper-organized and selfdescribed obsessive-compulsive Ramos said she had misgivings about her decision to participate.
“1 had no idea what I was getting myself into," she said 1 thought, they are going to mess everything up and I’ll have to go bade and fix everything?"
The designer for the project Adam DiGregorio, and Keeps met with Ramos and Robol to discuss design ideas. They talked about colors, themes and functionality.
“A lot of television shows play up the drama in makeovers," Keeps said. “But
Focus on crises, not terror
Department of Public Safety plans for emergencies of all kinds, from earthquakes to terrorist attacks
By KIM SIM
Staff Writer
As the two-year anniversary of the Sept* 11 attacks draws near, the Department of Public Safety will not be taking any precautions that are out of the ordinary, DPS chief Aaron Graves said
That is because DPS’ primary focus is and always has been on disasters, not on terrorism alone, Graves said.
Before Sept 11, 2001, earthquakes were the main concern for DPS’ disasters unit not terrorism.
Now, DPS and the USC administration have worked together to plan, train and develop a more extensive disaster protocol.
"Prior to 9-11, (our disaster response for terrorism) probably wasn’t what it should have been," Graves said. “Post 9-11, the university has stepped up its efforts to ensure that we are prepared to deal with any disaster we may face. There is ongoing progress."
DPS’ Emergency Planning and Information Services division has scheduled a disaster training session in October for DPS units from both
the University Park Campus and Health Sciences Campus. The training will include scenarios and either tabletop or full-scale exercises.
“The key people who have to execute the plan need to be familiar with what they have to do,” Graves said
DPS is also working on ways to maintain communication in a time of crisis. One measure that DPS is considering is the distribution of wallet-sized reference cards, designed to be carried at all times, just like a USC identification card The reference card would contain emergency phone numbers and other important contact information.
DPS is also looking at a way to get disaster information put up on the university's Web site so that up-to-date information is always readily accessible from anywhere in the world
The Web site will allow relatives to find out the state of the university when they are unable to reach anyone on campus. This is especially vital if USCs telephone communications are down due to a terrorist act or other disaster, such as in the blackout in the East last month.
DPS is trained to provide at least an initial response to most disasters — removing victims, securing the scene and making sure that access ways are clear If a situation requires resources beyond those that DPS possesses, they will turn
I see DM, page 21
Quick
Facts
DPS is working on several ways to • maintain communication during a time of crisis. These include putting information on the USC Web site and ^ distributing wallet-sized reference cards with emergency contact information.
New meal plan convenient for commuter students
Community Meal Plan allows students who do not live on campus to have meals in residential dining, such as EVK
By JACQUELINE LEE
Contributing Writer
A new meal plan, designed specifically for commuting USC students, was implemented this fall by Hospitality Services.
AU freshmen who live on campus are required by the university to select a meal plan. Students not living on campus in the past however, did not have a meal plan geared toward their needs, said Jeffrey Miller, senior manager of Hospitality Services.
“We want all of our students to be a part of our campus community. We want to give students who do not live on campus the option of eating on campus with their friends when they feel like it* Miller said
Hospitality Services realized by 2002 that the available meal plans did not reach aD student groups.
Miller said.
A Meal Plan Focus Group, which consisted of representatives from student groups such as UBSC, Greek Center and the Student Senate was created by Hospitality Services toward the end of the 2002-2003 school year to seek student opinion on university meal plans, Miller said.
A total of 3,000 freshmen, upperclassmen and graduate students responded to a formal online survey about meal plans conducted by Hospitality Services, which provided valuable insight for the Hospitality staff, Miller said. Thus, the new plan was implemented. ■
The plan, called the Community Meal Plan, enables students ’ to choose one of two meal plans: the Community 25 Plan or the Community 50 Plan. The Community 25 Plan includes 25 | see Meal, page 141

Of interest...
Los Angeles Fashion District provides a unqiue, low-budgei shopping experience /7
HYU's tricky defense not enough tu overcome No. 4 [ISC in Saturday's 35-18 victory at the Coliseum / 20
NewsDigttl 1 Calendar 2
Opinions 4 Siaff 4
Buzz 1 Classifieds It
Crossword
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
vol. CXUV, no. 9 w^.dailytfQlan.coni
7 told them I wanted a pull-up bar next to a fish tank and those boots so 1 could do the 'Deuce Bigalow' thing.
ROB ROBOL undeclared sophomore
L.A. Times decorates student dorm rooms on a budget and without breaking the rules
«c ’''«*' •' r-
for a feature in the Home section. A
home stylist would head the project
with a budget of $800 and adhere to
strict university rules about nails and
double stick tape. | f ^ ; -
Ramos, a junior majoring in sociology and religion, and Robol, an undecided sophomore, signed up for the makeover during summer RA training-So many other people had signed up that they said they soon forgot about it Then one day, they received a call from the newspaper.
“They said, 'We have an $800 budget to makeover your room,"’ Ramos said. “And 1 thought, are you kidding?’”
-• frilly* vr*• .IpMpi' W-gy‘ '*3
By LIDMNA POflTALES
Staff Writer
• Vv - :*♦ r
When Rob Robol and Angelica Ramos started their jobs as resident advisers and moved into their dorm rooms at Fluor Tower, they summoned a top interior decorator to transform their boring boxes into suites worthy of design magazines.
The best part was that it cost them absolutely nothing.
A couple of weeks before the semester started, Los Angeles Times writer David A. Keeps approached USC with a proposal to makeover two dorm rooms
A. '' P‘ ‘ ' our goal was not to create good television, it was to make nice living situations for people."
When Keeps and DiGregorio con suited the BAs, they said their utmost concern was to create a welcoming area for their residents, as well as to create practical eating and studying spaces.
Robol said he was free from appre hension and full of ideas.
“1 was excited,” he said. “1 have no problem letting random men into my room. They asked me what 1 wanted and I told them I wanted a pull-up bar next to a fish tank and those boots so 1
I see Room, page 13 I
Once the initial excitement wore off, however, the hyper-organized and selfdescribed obsessive-compulsive Ramos said she had misgivings about her decision to participate.
“1 had no idea what I was getting myself into," she said 1 thought, they are going to mess everything up and I’ll have to go bade and fix everything?"
The designer for the project Adam DiGregorio, and Keeps met with Ramos and Robol to discuss design ideas. They talked about colors, themes and functionality.
“A lot of television shows play up the drama in makeovers," Keeps said. “But
Focus on crises, not terror
Department of Public Safety plans for emergencies of all kinds, from earthquakes to terrorist attacks
By KIM SIM
Staff Writer
As the two-year anniversary of the Sept* 11 attacks draws near, the Department of Public Safety will not be taking any precautions that are out of the ordinary, DPS chief Aaron Graves said
That is because DPS’ primary focus is and always has been on disasters, not on terrorism alone, Graves said.
Before Sept 11, 2001, earthquakes were the main concern for DPS’ disasters unit not terrorism.
Now, DPS and the USC administration have worked together to plan, train and develop a more extensive disaster protocol.
"Prior to 9-11, (our disaster response for terrorism) probably wasn’t what it should have been," Graves said. “Post 9-11, the university has stepped up its efforts to ensure that we are prepared to deal with any disaster we may face. There is ongoing progress."
DPS’ Emergency Planning and Information Services division has scheduled a disaster training session in October for DPS units from both
the University Park Campus and Health Sciences Campus. The training will include scenarios and either tabletop or full-scale exercises.
“The key people who have to execute the plan need to be familiar with what they have to do,” Graves said
DPS is also working on ways to maintain communication in a time of crisis. One measure that DPS is considering is the distribution of wallet-sized reference cards, designed to be carried at all times, just like a USC identification card The reference card would contain emergency phone numbers and other important contact information.
DPS is also looking at a way to get disaster information put up on the university's Web site so that up-to-date information is always readily accessible from anywhere in the world
The Web site will allow relatives to find out the state of the university when they are unable to reach anyone on campus. This is especially vital if USCs telephone communications are down due to a terrorist act or other disaster, such as in the blackout in the East last month.
DPS is trained to provide at least an initial response to most disasters — removing victims, securing the scene and making sure that access ways are clear If a situation requires resources beyond those that DPS possesses, they will turn
I see DM, page 21
Quick
Facts
DPS is working on several ways to • maintain communication during a time of crisis. These include putting information on the USC Web site and ^ distributing wallet-sized reference cards with emergency contact information.
New meal plan convenient for commuter students
Community Meal Plan allows students who do not live on campus to have meals in residential dining, such as EVK
By JACQUELINE LEE
Contributing Writer
A new meal plan, designed specifically for commuting USC students, was implemented this fall by Hospitality Services.
AU freshmen who live on campus are required by the university to select a meal plan. Students not living on campus in the past however, did not have a meal plan geared toward their needs, said Jeffrey Miller, senior manager of Hospitality Services.
“We want all of our students to be a part of our campus community. We want to give students who do not live on campus the option of eating on campus with their friends when they feel like it* Miller said
Hospitality Services realized by 2002 that the available meal plans did not reach aD student groups.
Miller said.
A Meal Plan Focus Group, which consisted of representatives from student groups such as UBSC, Greek Center and the Student Senate was created by Hospitality Services toward the end of the 2002-2003 school year to seek student opinion on university meal plans, Miller said.
A total of 3,000 freshmen, upperclassmen and graduate students responded to a formal online survey about meal plans conducted by Hospitality Services, which provided valuable insight for the Hospitality staff, Miller said. Thus, the new plan was implemented. ■
The plan, called the Community Meal Plan, enables students ’ to choose one of two meal plans: the Community 25 Plan or the Community 50 Plan. The Community 25 Plan includes 25 | see Meal, page 141